PART ONE - THE IDEAL SITUATION
Adam, Clara, Max, Grace and Zoe stood in front of the simulation which would grant them access into the Sims 2 game. Having played Metal Gear Solid simulations with cutting edge weaponry, to medieval simulations where feudal life and court backstabbing was a way of life, The Sims 2 simulation was set to be a happy, peaceful life so long as you paid your bills and didn't burn down your kitchen.
"Welcome to the Sims 2 simulation!"
Adam was so excited he could barely move. What if they got to start off with the money cheat!? He looked around at his fellow friends, Clara with her lips pursed, Zoe arms folded, Max silently gazing and Grace beaming ecstatically to be with all her friends.
Slowly the screen faded and five podiums raised in the middle so that all walked slowly towards them.
"Please enter the following questionnaire," began the simulation, who had already lorded it over two types of simulations for these fellow patrons. "What aspiration do you most closely identify with?"
Clara glanced at the simulation, as did everybody.
"Please note, you will not be required to follow it, only to give the simulation an indication of your personality outside of the simulation," added the simulation.
Clara turned back to her simulation, inputting hers. Max did and Zoe and Grace and Adam, too. Clara chose Family, Max chose Pleasure, Zoe chose Knowledge, Grace chose Popularity and Adam chose Fortune.
"I want to sleep with all the chicks!" Max beamed.
"Oh my god," Clara rolled her eyes as Zoe shook her head.
"I want to look after kids," Grace said, but she chose Pleasure. "Oops. Does this mean I have to go to parties all the time?"
"Please input which career you would most likely do in real life, and situations will emerge where if you need a career, these are the pre qualifications you will have already earned from Sim State university to fulfill it if need be," spoke the simulation.
Clara looked at the list and she was torn between the Artist and Show Business career tracks, but chose Artist cos it was her kind of style.
Max chose Criminal cause he liked that kind of life.
Grace chose Slacker so she could focus on a family if need be.
Adam chose Business cos that was his kind of thing.
Zoe chose Gamer so she could stay inside.
"Well done!" boomed the simulation. "You have selected your aspiration and career path. Now… Pleasantview!"
The map spanned in front of their feet like a godly birds eye view as all saw Pleasantview and what it encompassed.
"The Broke Family!" It zoomed in on a single mother with her moody teenage son and clutching her young boy.
"Ew," Clara disparaged. "I'm not visiting them."
"Neither," Max added.
"The Caliente family!" It zoomed in on twins, blonde and redhead with provocative poses in tight dresses.
"Sluts," Zoe said, as Clara wisely kept her mouth shut. She knew the Caliente sisters wanted Don or Mortimer Goth.
"Dreamer!" A black father and his black son. "Lothario!" Don Lothario who had his eye on several girls in town. "Goth!" Goth was shown to have a 600k net worth, the elderly patriarch Mortimer and his missing wife Bella, despondent Cassandra and young Alexander.
"Where's the money cheat?" Clara pertinently asked, as Max looked to the simulation while Zoe frowned and Adam and Grace agreeably followed their gaze.
"There is no money cheat on the first time you play the game," the plumbob shook its head. "You must play to win it with work. You may either randomise the amount of money you receive but be forced to live in whatever house you can afford, or randomise the house of any price level you can live in, but be forced to start with a minimal $20,000 starting funds."
"Let's do the second one," Clara said, as Max nodded and Zoe agreed as did Adam and Grace, pressing the buzzer to 'vote' for the second option.
"Here," the parrot announced, as the spinning top highlighted each of the available houses which were not currently occupied, then a spotlight appeared on Clara first and then another spotlight flickered fast between all the available houses, slowing down to select one at random. Clara pursed her lips, hoping she would get a big house to decorate. The spotlight landed on 190 Main Street, a similar house to Don's and Caliente's which happened to be on the left of the Caliente twins.
"Jeez," Clara complained. "Suck."
"Haha!" Max pointed like Nelson from the Simpsons. "You're a loser.
"Shut up, dick," Clara responded. "Least I won't get herpes."
"Yeah, from Don!" Max replied.
"Shut up you two," Zoe condescended, but Clara only shut her mouth and Max glanced away.
"Come on guys," Grace said, dampening as the spotlight turned on her then rushed onto several houses hoping her friends would get along. The spotlight ended on 95 Woodland Drive, a two bedroomed house with a decent amount of facilities.
"Yay!" Grace cheered, but no one else was cheering.
Next was Adam who gulped as the spotlight circled on many properties, but he was fine with whatever he had as long as he could visit his friends. Slowly it began to slow down, and Max hated that if he did not receive the mansion, and the spotlight landed on 40 Woodland Drive.
"Oh, cool!" Adam had always liked this house.
"Mine," Max grinned as the spotlight circled on many houses and landed on 113 Wright Way, the mansion he had always wanted.
"Oh yeah!" Max fisted the air and Clara scoffed and Zoe sighed and Grace looked in admiration and Adam was happy he got what he wanted. "Now I can live in luxury, bitches!"
Zoe watched as her spotlight flickered between the various houses and settled on 225 Main Street, a little house that was not dissimilar to Clara's but had a little porch up second storey out front and had a more enclosed, one sided two storey room.
"Aha! U got a small house!" Max grinned.
"Shut up, dick!" Clara said more furiously.
"You will all begin with $20,000 starting funds," announced the parrot. "If you need any help, glance to the skies at dark! Good day!"
With that, the simulation's floor let them descend into Pleasantview with a surprised yelp and everyone landed on their houses with a fresh burst of sunlight announcing 9am on the dot.
MONDAY
Adam
Adam entered his house where he knew the kitchen was to the left mixed with the living room if he so chose, a smaller bedroom, the mixed bathroom and a bigger bedroom to the right. He entered buy mode, purchasing for himself a teak double bed side with cheap bedside tables, a couch and TV in the kitchen, a small card dining table, a better shower and a desk for his 3rd tier computer.
Clara
Clara's house was inbetween Don's and the Calientes, a kitchen on the lower left, a living room on the right and a bathroom to the back of the staircase. Upstairs were two bedrooms and an ensuite bathroom and a balcony on the right. She went onto the balcony, smelling fresh air and pine as Don headed out to his work. He gave her a wink and thumbs up but she ignored him as she began to paint on her easel.
Max
Max swam around in his pool and ordered pizza from the phone. He didn't care what the rest of his day consisted of as he already had everything he had wanted.
Grace
Grace sniffed as she perused the options for how to furnish her little flat. In truth it was quite big for it came with two bedrooms and a decent size lounge with a nice little kitchenette.
Zoe
Zoe bought the best gaming computer she could afford and started playing some games, signing herself up to the Gamer career track on the way and choosing to start Flag Capturer. She would need 2 points in logic, creativity and mechanical but she was happy with the income bracket and job responsibilities she was at.
Adam
Adam watched from his window as the paper boy dropped off the newspaper and he scanned it, reading that the Business career track was available. With his qualification he was able to start at tier 5 or below, so he chose Executive. He had to get 2 points in mechanical, charisma and logic each to succeed to the next level, so he walked into the bathroom where the mirror was, and tests on spelling, grammar and pronunciation would ensue of increasingly harder and longer words to increase his skill level.
Clara
Clara began as a wedding photographer in the Artist career, lvl 5 so she would need 5 creativity, 4 mechanical and 3 charisma. She continued the painting she was working on out on the balcony as she felt her stomach rumble and would soon need to fix herself dinner.
Max
Max got out into town and with his hands in his pockets checked out the clothing store, where he bought a black beanie and some sneakers with blue shorts and a black hoodie top.
Grace
Grace chose a Convenience Store Clerk, lvl 2 in the Slacker Career cos the rest were boring to her.
"Where's Johnny?" Grace asked the simulation, but no reply. She would find out later that night that at least one week had to pass before chosen NPCs would enter the realm.
Zoe
Zoe ordered pizza for herself and bought herself a double bed made with black sheets. She drew the curtains so she could better focus on the video games she was having fun with.
Adam
"Hey Adam," Max rang up Adam.
"Hi Max!" Adam replied.
"I'm gonna host the party this weekend," Max grinned. "Want to come."
"I'll check if I'm working that day, hold on!" Adam checked his calendar and saw that he was an Executive only on the weekdays. "Sure! What day?"
"Sunday," Max replied.
"Is everyone free then?" Adam asked.
"Nah, Clara isn't," Max replied.
"Do you think she'll take a day of work?" Adam asked.
"Dunno," Max replied. "So you coming or what?"
"Yeah!"
"Cool," Max hung up.
Clara
"No, I'm not coming, I'm working that day," Clara hung up on her brother.
She returned to her easel which she continued to paint, the more time she spent the more her creativity skill would slowly increase. She saw don come home and Nina walk across the pavement and enter his house.
"Slut," Clara thought to herself as the Lothario's door closed behind Nina.
Max
"Hey," Max knocked on Dina's door, but when it opened she was in a slim black dress with tan skin and blonde hair.
"Do I know you?" Dina blinked slowly.
"Nah," Max replied. "I live in the mansion down the street."
"Ooh," Dina fluttered her eyelashes.
"Do you wanna come to my party tonight?" Max grinned.
Grace
"Hey," Grace called Adam. "What are you up to?"
"Trying to increase my charisma," Adam replied. "What about you?"
"Um, just watching TV," Grace thrust more potato chips in her mouth. "Do you want to come round?"
"Maybe another time," Adam said. "Once I get my skills up."
"Oh, OK," Grace hung up. She tried Clara, but she didn't answer, while Max was out and nor did Zoe answer.
Zoe
Zoe ate pizza for dinner then tucked up in her nice big bed with the black satin sheets.
Adam
Adam had got the charisma he needed so he made himself a TV dinner and went to sleep for the morning work, excited to go to the Business offices.
Clara
"Why'd you go over to Dina's house for?" Clara rang Max late at night while a programme blared on his end.
"She's hot," Max replied.
PART TWO - THE WORKING DAY
TUESDAY
Max
Max ate leftover pizza and wandered out to scratch his balls in his sleepwear as he saw his mailbox was flagged. Dina had come over to see his place and she was vastly impressed, just as remembered she was dating Mortimer Goth. He opened it and saw he had bills and read that he owed $5000 in bills.
"What the fuck?" Max stared at the amount. He had just over 15,000 left but spent a third to pay the bills and slammed the mailbox shut. "Fuck this."
He looked through the newspaper and found a crime offering, Getaway Driver offering $595 a day working weekdays and requiring 4 creative, 2 mechanical and 1 body to improve. He already had one body skill point and a half from his day in the pool yesterday so he went to work on his creative skill so he bought some drums and had no neighbors to complain about the noise.
Grace
Grace made herself some mac and cheese and slept in. She wouldn't work until Wednesday night.
Zoe
Zoe didn't work on Tuesdays so she went to the store instead, buying herself a black halter top and cargo pants and dyed her ginger hair black and returned home to play some more games and eat some more pizza.
Adam
Adam sat in his bigger office with a junior executive outside his office, but the shop floor was populated with executives jostling for space.
Clara
Clara didn't work on Tuesdays so she spent the rest of her day getting her creativity skill up to snuff.
Max
Max had reached 2/4 creativity skill points playing the drums so he ordered pizza.
Zoe
Zoe decided to take up painting as well and her real life skill in drawing made it easy for her to gain skills quickly. She put it off however to be completionist on her UT2004 game.
Adam
Adam came home from work tired, his job consisted mostly of finding irregularities in documents.
Clara
Clara's creativity was good so now she had to improve her mechanical and charisma. She practised language skills in the mirror.
WEDNESDAY
Max
Max would work later that night so he spent the entire day practising the drums.
Grace
Grace would also work later that night, she had spent two and a half days relaxing. She bought herself some new clothes to pep up her courage.
Zoe
Zoe arrived at the offices of the major game corporation for whom she worked and worked well to achieve good points for her team on UT2004. She would be paid $325 a day for this.
Adam
Adam bought a chess set and he could increase his creativity by writing on the computer before he headed off to work.
Clara
Clara left for work at 8 in the morning, ignoring Don as he got in the carpool provided to take him as an intern to work in the medical practice. She had noticed neither Dina or Nina had jobs. She would be learning how to do camera angles and poses for Don and Cassandra's wedding.
Max
Max's creativity was now up to snuff along with his body so now the only remainder was mechanical. Dina called him but he had to ignore it and focus or he would lose this mansion by his lucky lottery chance. He opened a mechanical book which was brain teasers designed to ensnare him which irritated him all throughout the day.
Grace
Grace went to work at 10pm in the little brown car, she wouldn't be working at a service station but she sold general things to little mom n pop houses and enjoyed the easy fare though the tips were low.
Zoe
Zoe came home from work relieved but tired she had earned her wage and ordered pizza as usual but focused on her art for which her creative skill was coming along nicely.
Adam
Adam returned from work only to focus on his creativity skill and wrote some more of his book.
Clara
Clara returned from work tired of being told from superiors of what to do.
"Hey," Don offered a wave in greeting.
"Hi," Clara stiffly ignored his greeting.
"You new here?" Don asked.
"Yep," Clara replied.
"Want to see my hot tub?" Don intoned.
"Nope," Clara entered her house and closed the door in his face, focusing on the remainder of her charisma skill to bulk up.
Max
Max was a getaway driver so at 10pm at night he waited at the spot and heard the blare of alarms and hit metal tyres screeching to hit the point of evasion behind the cops. Quickly he made it to the drop off spot and bagged his $595 a day loot and headed back into his mansion with a gleamy smile.
THURSDAY
Grace
Grace returned from work and slept the whole day so she could work later that evening.
Zoe
Zoe worked once more to tackle the gaming community more efficiently.
Adam
Adam had the charisma and the creativity for his writing skill in real life was good so now he focused on getting 2 logic points. Once he had finished work he sat down and spent a long time trying to work out good ways to win a game of chess, with which he struggled.
Clara
Clara met with Cassandra Goth at her huge mansion which she shared with her elderly father and younger brother so she would know how to conduct the wedding on Saturday.
Max
Max would be working tonight as well so he continued his progress in mechanical skill until that was up as well just as he needed to head for work.
Grace
Grace's hours changed to daytime hours at her request so she worked a long one today until 3pm and bought herself some furniture and clothing before heading back to her little house.
Zoe
Zoe worked from 1pm to 9pm and gained good high time with her colleagues and they asked to come over but she said no.
PART THREE - THE WORK HAVING PAID OFF
Adam
Adam looked around at the fast-set simulation that had been advanced by a month. He looked at his funds and saw that he had some left, but in his bedroom where he lay in a comfy bed with a widescreen plasma opposite it, to the bathroom equipped with the latest shower, toilet and basin, the kitchen had top end applicants but still a smaller dining table for there was no room for it, a baroque couch with a plasma TV on the wall and a study room with a cool laptop, computer chair and desk, he knew his Sim had made it.
"Cool!" Adam beamed from ear to ear to see that his work calendar was updated to read that he was now a Business Tycoon, earning $2100 a day, Mon-Thur 10am till 4pm.
Clara
Clara was in the same little house which she had grown accustomed to. Of course she had the latest toys same as Adam, with a better easel and using the second room as the nursery which she had decorated in her theme. Many furnishings were Asian and custom designed and she now received a cheque in the mail for whenever she sent off her paintings. Looking at her work calendar she saw she was now, aside from in possession of multiple thousand dollars, a Visionary who earned $4549 a day working Tue, Thur and Sun from 1pm till 6pm.
Max
Max was relieved to see his mansion all in one piece but he didn't have much additional furniture. The place was messy and reeked, he hadn't cleaned it all during his rush to reach the top of his career. His work calendar showed that he was now a Criminal Mastermind, earning $1925 a day working Tue Thur Fri Sat from 5pm till 11pm. He had a decent amount of cash but worked out through the help of the plumbob parrot that he would need to budget for at least $5000 of his $7700 weekly income to pay the bills, and he had a bit of savings he had accumulated so started to build on a party. Dina he saw he had a high relationship with so he booked a party for the weekend and started calling up his friends to invite them.
Grace
Grace's house was nice and tidy but she hired a maid to do so as she outfitted her spare room into a nursery, trying to copy Clara's routines whenever she was over there. She had nice stuff too, mainly pink and flower themed. Her work calendar showed that she worked as a Professional Party Guest earning $1400 a day working Friday Sat and Sun between 10pm and 2am.
"Cool," Grace breathed she was excited about going to parties and earning so much for such little work.
Zoe
Zoe was now a game designer earning $1950 a day working weekdays between 10am and 6pm. She was at the top of her career with some serious savings behind her, with her home decorated mainly in black but she had branched out to cook her own meals but cleaned her own apartment as she didn't like maids coming in or anyone for that matter.
Adam
"Sir?" knocked an executive on Adam's door.
"Hello?" Adam glanced from his work as a militarily efficiently suited man entered his office.
"Sir, please excuse me but there is a proposal for you to consider," the executive placed the manila folder on his desk, nodded his head and closed the door as he left.
Adam read the proposition which suggested building a seaport instead of buying trucks which would be more economical. The seaport would help established companies, Adamk put a red line through seaport and left it on his out folder for someone to collect.
Clara
Clara sat at dinner at her artist's work dinner while everybody ordered and she knew this was a chance opportunity and she would have to choose between two. The bill came to a sizeable amount and she could either pay it in her name or her company's, and she chose hers.
Max
"Come on guys," Max said.
"I guess," Clara replied.
"I'll come!" Grace said.
"Me too," Adam nodded.
"Alright," Zoe said grudgingly.
"Yeah!" Max cheered. "My place is the best."
Grace
Grace was at one of the parties when the DJ asked he needed to liven up the party. She could sing or streak naked.
"I'll sing," Grace said nervously, even though her body would be covered with pixels, no way would she be doing that.
Max
"Hey, Max!" Dina waved from where she was still engaged to Mortimer. "Come meet us."
Max came over wearing formal threads to where Dina's engagement ring glinted in the moonlight. "This is my sister Nina."
"Hi," Nina smirked.
Grace
"Wow," Grace drove her family van she wanted to have a family in some day.
"Grace!" Max called from where he stood at the front of his mansion with Dina and Nina who narrowed their eyes in suspicion.
Zoe
Zoe sloped into Max's mansion where the party was booming with loud music, Sims jumping into the pool and drinks from the bartender. She went upstairs to check out his place and bumped into Clara.
"I wonder how he affords the bills," Clara irked an eyebrow.
"Same," Zoe shrugged in reply.
Adam
Adam parked his sedan between Clara and Zoe's sports car, wearing a suit and saw them all splayed out in the courtyard.
Clara
"So this is your place," Clara wondered.
"Yep," Max grinned, taking a swig of his drink from the bartender which gave him a high but a non realistic enough one of alcohol.
"Bit much," Zoe glanced around at all the hangings which Max had spent a lot of money on.
"Did you buy a maid?" Clara asked lips pursed. "Grace?"
"Um, no," Grace smiled sadly as Clara looked away. "I like doing the cleaning its nice."
Max
"Max," Nina said huskily during the last dregs of the party, placing her hand on his knee. "I want to get to know you… better."
Grace
"Did you hire a maid?" Grace asked to Clara taking a sip of the sweet tasting drink she was proffered by the bartender.
"No, a butler," Clara deferred. "Of course."
"Of course," Grace repeated, wilting. "What about you, Adam?"
"Yep, a butler," Adam nodded. "He lives in the study."
"And you, Zoe?" Grace asked.
"Nope," Zoe shook her head.
At that second when the clock hit midnight, all their phones bar Zoe rang and Max who was out of sight was left unknown.
"Oh, I wonder who it is," Grace answered.
"Hello?" Adam asked.
"What?" Clara asked.
Adam
"Wow!" Adam was ecstatic riding back home in his sedan. "$35,000!"
Adam immediately decorated his house with upscale armchairs and fine paintings and wallpaper and everything he could think of with money left over.
Clara
"Oh my god," Clara received a check for $100,000. Immediately she moved out of her house and started construction on another of her choosing with an Asian theme and as many rooms as she could afford.
Max
"Wow," Max said, lying in bed afterwards.
"I know," Nina scraped his chest with her fingernails. "Let's get married."
"Nah," Max said. "I don't wanna. I'll marry Dina."
"What?" Nina shouted. "But she's marrying Mortimer."
"Nah she aint, she chucked her ring in the pool when I proposed, I got it back I'm gonna sell it," Max grinned.
Grace
"Hi Johnny," Grace let him in.
"Hi Grace," Johnny gleamed whites. He was an Leading Man in the Showbusiness Career earning $2205 a day, 6615 a week.
"Grace, will you marry me?" Johnny got on bent knee.
"Yep," Grace hugged him tightly, kissing him too.
Zoe
Zoe married Vincent who moved into her place. Vincent was a Commander in the military earning 840 a day and 4200 a week. Her place was decorated black with lots of electronics and she made extra income from painting on the easel.
Adam
"Hi guys," Adam waved them in as all his friends entered.
"Hi," Clara said, slipping past Adam. "This is Irvine." Irvine had no employment.
"Howdy," Irvine tipped his cowboy hat with a brown ponytail.
"Hey!" Max did the gangsta hand grab. "This is Maria." Neither was Maria employed.
"Hello," Maria spoke in accented Spanish, red hair and gold jewellery and short skirt. "Can we go home soon? I want to make luh-uhve."
"Hi," Grace hugged him. "This is Johnny."
"How's it goin'?" Johnny shook hands roughly with him. He wore shaded glasses and a wide big grin with white teeth and slightly unbuttoned shirt.
"Hi," Zoe waved. "This is Vincent."
"Hello," Adam nodded. "Please, come this way."
Adam had a lot of baroque furniture which was his style, very stuffy and upper class. "Please, take a seat."
Adam took his seat at the head of the table of one while Kyan sat at the other, beaming in his magnificence and looking equally as dapper. Clara glanced at him before she sat down at Kyan's with Irvine opposite her, and Zoe did with Vincent too, leaving Max and Maria with Grace and Johnny to sit at Adam's.
"Please bring out the meals," Adam called.
Adam had apple pie and Kyan high energy protein plate.
Clara had garden salad and Irvine rack of lamb.
Max had hamburger cake and Maria had flirty heart cookies.
Grace had strawberry cake and Johnny had salt and pepper shrimp cocktail.
Zoe had roast chicken and Vincent had angry flaming spaghetti, as Adam had no clue what food they liked in particular.
"Enjoy!" Adam said.
"Clara, you are a Visionary?" Maria asked.
"Yep," Clara took a bite of her food.
"And what do you do, Irvine?" Maria fluttered her eyelashes prettily.
"Unemployed," Irvine said with a meaningful glance at his wife.
"Ah, you must have children!" Maria grasped his arm. "A stay at home dad!"
"I'm trying to get Maria pregnant," Max smirked.
"Good for you," Clara said, not caring one bit.
"This is a cool house," Grace said. "Did you redecorate?"
"Yes," Adam replied. "I wanted it to look a specific way. I also hired a butler, a maid and a gardener to keep things in tip top shape.
"Thank you for coming," Adam said to his friends.
Clara
"That was lame," Clara said, as Irvine drove her home in his black Empire sports car.
"Something wrong, hon?" Irvine glanced over at her.
"Nope," Clara replied.
Max
"Come on, babe," Max tugged Maria's arm as he headed out of his race car and into his bedroom in the mansion.
"I'm tired," Maria complained.
"Nah," Max kissed her neck. "C'mon. It was a boring dinner. Let's fuck."
"Oh, but quickly," Maria pressed him to sit on the cold recliner near the pool and hitched her dress up around her waist.
Grace
"Hi, Consuela," Grace dismissed the nanny who was watching her toddler in its crib. "Hi, Grace."
Grace had a bit of brown hair and a cute toddler onesie who burbled when she talked.
"I'm off to bed," Johnny kissed her on the cheek. "Night."
"Night," Grace said dreamily, holding her daughter and spinning the mobile atop her crib as her eyes became alight with wonder.
Zoe
"Thanks," Zoe said to Vincent who brought her a soda drink as he sat down on the black couch they both bought together with their combined salaries and played games all night and fell asleep on top of one another to the Pacman theme.
Adam
"Good day, Kyan," Adam rose from his bed, meeting Kyan in the kitchen who was holding a cup of coffee.
"Good morning, handsome," Kyan smiled, giving him a kiss on the cheek and returning to his newspaper. "When do you go into work?"
"The car comes to pick me up at eight," Adam checked the time. "I should get ready."
Clara
"What are you gonna get?" Grace asked.
"I dunno," Clara looked through the racks of the shop where clothes galore.
"Please, ladies," beamed a blonde salesgirl. "Let me know if I can help."
"Ooh, I like this," Grace held up a diamond necklace. "Wow."
"Can you afford it?" Clara asked.
"Yeah," Grace replied, her combined income making over ten thousand per week.
"So can I," Clara picked up another similar one.
Max
"I need to make some money," Maria said.
"Why?" Max lay on the recliner with his hands behind his head.
"I see Clara and Grace walk out of all the shops with lots of bags," Maria pouted. "The more stuff we buy the more money we spend on bills."
"Yeah. So what?" Max relaxed. He had at last bought everything he needed, including a wall mounted plasma TV, pool table, exercise machine and laptop PC. "Get a job then."
Maria signed herself for the Dance career, beginning as an Aerobics Instructor. She would earn $1,075 a week and primarily needed to work on her Body skill.
"I told myself it would not be easy marrying a rich man," Maria told herself, changing into athletic gear and stretching in front of the TV where an exercise tape began to play, the tempo growing. "OK. Let's do this."
Grace
Grace hired a maid and a nanny but now she was thinking of giving up her career in Slacker, as a Professional Party Guest. She wanted to spend her time raising Grace and so she broached the topic with Johnny over dinner.
"I think that's a great idea, if you want to spend more time with Grace," Johnny chewed his meat.
"Are you sure?" Grace asked. "We'd be earning four thousand less each week."
"Who cares about money," Johnny placed his hand over hers. "Do it, babe."
So Grace quit her job the next day, got rid of the nanny and became a full time stay at home mum and in time called off the maid too for when things got boring, but rarely they did.
Adam
"I'd like to move to Sunset Valley, which is part of Pleasantview now," Adam said. "There's a cool house I like owned by the Landgraabs."
"Sir, that place is occupied," spoke one of the CEOs in charge of Adam's businesses.
"I should think so, it's a wonderful property," Adam said. "However, I should like them to sell it to me. Yes. That would be a nice plan."
Clara
Clara waved goodbye to Jin and Tai, fully fledged young adults who went to Sim State University in their own dormitories while Hikari was a teenager, Kraven a child, Kippy a toddler and Jai and Lenne babies both of them.
"I knew I was fertile," Irvine wrapped his arms round Clara from behind in a hug. "But I didn't know you were, too!"
"Shut up," Clara smacked him playfully then went in for a kiss the two shared.
Max
"What the hell?" Maria stumbled.
"What?" Max asked, as Dina rose the sheets to her breasts.
"You're cheating on me?" Maria placed her hand to her forehead. "I need to lie down… "
Grace
"C'mon Grace," Grace crouched, arms extended to catch Grace who waddled over to her, learning how to walk but falling backwards on her bum.
PART 4 - THE WEEKEND
Clara
Clara drove in her sports car with Irvine by her side to Sim State University. Inside were her sons Jin and Tai at their dormitory, living it up with parties and pizza and meeting girls.
"Yuck," Clara said, stepping over the detritus of stinky clothing in the hamper spilling onto the floor and discarded soda cans. "I'm hiring a maid to clean this dump."
"Nah, Mom!" Jin tore off his headphones. "You're killing my vibe."
"Where's your brother?" Clara glanced around to see Tai talking with Heather Huffington, a blonde freshman. "Tai."
"Yeah, Mom? Catch you later," Tai added in an underside as Heather blushed and Tai tucked her number into his pocket. "What's up?"
"Why are your rooms so small?" Clara wrinkled her nose. "Why not live in your own house?"
"Nah, Mom," Tai shook his head. "I like the life."
"OK," Clara said, moving on to grab a coffee with Irvine at a local eatery.
Max
"What the fuck?" Max glanced around at his mansion where everything had been sold. He drove to the newly occupied but small house where Maria lived. "You bitch!"
"You cheated on me!" Maria shouted from the balcony. "And I will not let you in! Now I live with all my creature comforts and no stupid amount of bills to make us poor!"
"Bitch," Max snarled, but he could not enter the property without her say-so. He drove away in his yellow race car but had to sell it just so he could pay the bills that day.
He walked all the way to Clara's house, but she wasn't home and nor was Zoe or Vincent, both were at work. Adam's house was next and so he knocked on the door.
"Max?" Kyan frowned, emerging in athletic wear.
"Let me in," Max insisted, grubby and torn clothes. Max glanced around at the prim and perfect house, butler all efficiency and maid helping with the gardener trimming the hedges in the outside lawn. "Maria left me. I need a place to stay."
Grace
"Thanks," Grace sniffed as she dismissed the nanny goodbye.
All he did was watch TV and make a mess with meals, so Grace took care of Grace herself. She checked the clock. Johnny would be home from work soon, so she decided to make some dinner for the two of them and put Grace in her high chair.
Zoe
"What do you want for dinner?" Zoe asked, looking in her fridge which was stocked full of food and she had been working on her cooking skill.
"Dunno," Vincent shrugged. "Whatever you want, babe."
Zoe bristled at that but pulled out a garden salad to be healthy and began preparing it on the cutting board on the kitchen counter.
Adam
Adam came home from work in his black sedan and parked it in the allocated parking space as he entered the house and heard loud music pumping from the stereo in the rap fashion as the butler pursed his lips as he walked by.
"What's going on?" Adam asked, ascending the staircase to find Max in the spare bedroom, rocking his head to music. "Max?"
"Yeah, Maria kicked me out," Max spat with invective. "Can I stay with you guys?"
"Sure! How exciting," Adam added. "I'll tell Kyan."
"He knows," Max smirked. "I barged in on him doing his workout."
"Well, what would you like for dinner?"
"Pizza?" Max's eyes glowed in anticipation.
"OK," Adam dampened. "I'll order pizza. Do you want to eat with us?"
"Sure," Max said.
"Max, what's going to happen to your house?" Adam asked, still in his business suit.
"I dunno," Max shrugged. "I have to keep paying the bills in the meantime."
Clara
Clara drove back to her place and Irvine parked while she went upstairs to paint on her easel. She saw Don was in his hot tub and frowned cos he was such a layabout ladies man.
"Oh my god," Clara saw her daughter Hikari in a bikini over at his place, kissing him. "That slut."
Max
Max returned at eleven at night and went up to his room, having collected the cheque that part financed his empty mansion where nobody lived. He sold the mansion for a tidy profit of $240,000, but he couldn't use Buy/Build mode in Adam's house without permission; nonetheless, he had a big bed and bookcase and chair and ensuite to enjoy in the meantime.
Adam
"Hello, Max," Adam glanced up the next morning, having taken a vacation day so he could spend some time with Kyan who had a day off.
"Can I buy some stuff?" Max asked.
"Sure," Adam beamed. "I'll allow you permission to buy on my property, of course you will use your funds?"
"Yeah," Max grinned. "Course."
Clara
"You slut," Clara dragged Hikari from Don's house and set permissions on her bedroom so that Hikari could not escape. She had slapped Don while Irvine won against him in a fight.
Max
Max had added a stereo and wall mounted plasma into the room as well as a set of weights, moving the bookcase and club chair into the corridor so he could pump some metal. He tried out Adam's newly installed pool and bought a hot tub just within sight.
Grace
"Hi, Clara," Grace sniffed.
"Hi," Clara entered Grace's house, glancing around at the modest furnishings supplemented by the occasional lavish purchase. "Where's your daughter?"
"She's at school," Grace smiled. "What about your children?"
"Jin and Tai just graduated, Hikari's at uni, Kraven's a teenager, Kippy's a child, and Jai and Lenne are both toddlers," Clara reported.
"Wow, Clara," Grace was amazed. "How do you raise so many children!?"
THE END
A/N: Adam's partner Sim Kyan is based off the similarly named member of Queer Eye, Clara's Irvine from FFVIII, Grace's from the lead star of Jackass and Zoe's from FFVII's Mr. Valentine, Max's just from random.